Imagine Huntsville
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While Huntsville isn't as cycling friendly as it could be, it is a natural cycling destination. The trails at Monte Sano are excellent and the backroads of Madison County, especially around New Hope/Owens Cross Roads, offer hundreds of miles of low traffic, scenic cycling for the roadie.
Cyclists are more affluent and educated than your average demographic. They have discretionary income and will spend money in resaurants
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I was downtown Saturday evening and Big Spring park was alive with people. One problem; crossing Church St. from the east side of the park to the west was hazardous.
Solution: Close Church St. from Williams to Clinton on Friday and Saturday night.
Benefits: Safety. The park is enlarged. Church St. becomes an ideal place for food trucks to set up, further enhancing the park as a destination. It connects the venues
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The new John Hunt park will be a nice amenity for Huntsville, but will be inaccessible without a car. Why? Because the monstrosity known as Memorial Parkway dissects this city like the Berlin Wall. It is a very dangerous proposition to cross if you are a walker or cyclist.
Please consider building a pedestrian bridge over the parkway to connect Piedmont to the park. Also, while we are on the subject, the Lowe Mill
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If we can't be one city, why not follow the patterns of Louisville-Jefferson Metro Government and the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County? Combine the overhead of city governance and do us all a favor... get along and work together.

Huntsville is a classic example of Suburban Sprawl. We are so car dependent that rising oil prices will kill this town. Let's get alternate transit options for all these many neighborhoods that can't get anywhere reasonably without a car. The Southeast and Alabama are falling far behind all of these other far-sighted adaptable cities. There are many examples and resources to be had if we simply try, and help or aid can
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If we build a new stadium downtown or possibly at the present park, building apartments as part of the stadium might be a good idea. Add restaurants, pubs, micro brewery, meeting rooms, stores that appeal to the sports enthusiast etc.

I'd love to see more live music at the park, including an event modeled after one I saw at Centennial Park in Nashville last fall. The show was a open to the public with picnic style seating around the stage. A few different bands played, food trucks were parked around the perimeter, and a fenced-off biergarten was set up. We have all of the components to make a great afternoon event. It attracted a huge number of people
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There are many examples of city wide street closures for biking walking and exercise. Look at the joy on these peoples faces as the ride, walk and play in their city streets. Consider closing lanes on Whitesburg all the way to Weatherly Road, then close two lanes of Weatherly, to Todd Mill, and connect up to the Aldridge Greenway. Thus we'd have a route from downtown to Ditto Landing. Just think how much fun
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The Downtown Square has so much potential. Remove the auto traffic (except one lane on the east side) and create a walking space and plaza areas from the newly claimed area. Let's face it, there's not much parking at the square, so removing the circular traffic will not impact 90% of the drivers, because 90% of us park on the periphery blocks.
This move will encourage bikeability and walking. And it's a proven
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The Big Spring Park walkway ends at an ugly mess. The railroad trestle is probably problematic regarding extending the walkway, but the usability for downtown residents and visitors would be enhanced if connections were made to the post office and Spring Hill Suites.

Big Spring Park is a Huntsville gem, but the chain link fencing around the Huntsville Municipal Building is an eyesore. I'm not sure why it's there -- it can't be providing any real security -- but either it needs to go or a more permanent (and less ugly) solution installed.

Huntsville being such a technology oriented city should have Gigabit internet access like Chattanooga and other cities in the US. Huntsville has companies such as ADTRAN that develop and build the components for that infrastructure. Huntsville Utilities could venture in that direction, Chattanooga's electric company's smart grid converstion led to their Gigabit speeds. It seems only natural that since Huntsville has
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Campaigns

Here in the sidebar is the list of current campaigns.
Campaigns are used to group ideas around topics, processes or desired outcomes. Once you're done with this tour, a great way to start exploring is to check out the campaigns.

What do you think about the City of Huntsville's proposed "Wayfinding" signage plan for downtown?

A wayfinding plan addresses directional signage for motorists and pedestrians. Huntsville desired a professional and consistent plan that helped residents and visitors easily locate public parking and major attractions.

The City will present the new directional signage plan for downtown Huntsville to the Planning Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 5 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 308 Fountain Circle. The public is invited to attend. Once approved, the City plans to begin implementation in late summer 2014.

The new signage plan was developed by Frazier and Associates of Virginia. The company worked for the past year with a steering committee of community stakeholders to create a plan that addressed downtown functionality, image, and the context Huntsville desired.

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Expired on
02/08/2014

ARTS & CULTURE

Huntsville's new Arts & Entertainment District successfully completed its 90 day "soft opening." The City of Huntsville is now looking at expanding the districts hours and days of operation.
Tell us what you think and what ideas you have for an animated downtown that supports a live, work, learn and play environment.

Planning the Future of Downtown's Historic Buildings

The historic buildings and homes in downtown Huntsville are important part of the city's charm, culture, and southern heritage. Three of these major structures are in transition, and we want to know your ideas on what should happen next with these buildings. The two school properties are listed on the State of Alabama's historic register, and approval for renovations must be granted by the Huntsville Historic Preservation Commission. The bank building is listed on the National Historic Register.

First National Bank of Alabama on Jefferson Street.

One of Huntsville's most iconic and recognizable structures, this Greek Revival bank was built on the Courthouse Square in 1835. It served as a bank until 2010, when Regions Bank deeded the property for community use via an arrangement with the Historic Preservation Authority. The City needs a plan and funding for the building's use and maintenance. What do you think should happen to the building?

East Clinton Elementary School on East Clinton Street in Old Town.

The site of the first school to be built in Huntsville, East Clinton Elementary is the third school structure on the property (see timeline of photos at the bottom of the page). Built in 1926 in the Art Deco style, it closed in 2012. Huntsville City Schools would like to sell the property to help fund capital improvements in other areas. It also costs the school system about $39,000 - $42,000 per year just to keep the building in its current state. The school system is asking $1,564,000 million for the 3.62 acre property. The building has 39,100 SF under cover.

Annie Merts Center

Home to the Huntsville City Schools administrative offices, this former school building sits on the corner of Randolph and White Streets. Built in 1928 in the Renaissance Revival style, it served as a high school. In 1987, the building was converted into administrative offices. Huntsville City Schools is considering selling the property along with the nearby parking lot across White Street.

Evolution of Education on Clinton Avenue

Huntsville’s first public school building was built in 1882 on the site of the present East Clinton Elementary School.

This larger brick building was erected only 20 years later in 1902 on the same East Clinton Avenue site as the first frame building.

By 1938 the East Clinton Avenue site had yet another school, this Art Deco style building, which was used as East Clinton Elementary School until June 2012.

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Expired on
03/25/2013

HEALTH & FITNESS

What can Huntsville do to combat obesity and improve our diet?
The Healthy Huntsville initiative wants to know your ideas!
Team partners include the City of Huntsville, HudsonAlpha, Huntsville Hospital, Madison County Health Department and Huntsville City Schools. Many other health and wellness groups across the city have joined in the effort and are offering FREE fitness and nutrition opportunities.
Check out the FREE events on the Healthy Huntsville calendar at http://bit.ly/14OdTCV.
Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/healthyhuntsville
On the web www.huntsvilleal.gov/healthyhuntsville

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Expired on
06/16/2013

PARKS & RECREATION

A sincere thank you to everyone who posted, commented and voted on ideas on the new John Hunt Park Master Plan. The City of Huntsville is very excited about the ideas you suggested as well as the support you showed for ideas already in the Master Plan. Thanks to Imagine Huntsville, we are pursuing many of your suggestions, and we are looking forward to creating a central park for all the citizens. We will need your help, so stay tuned!

What ideas do you have to improve Huntsville's Parks? Master plans call for more than 205 miles of greenways (we have more than 35 miles constructed), and the new John Hunt Park plan will greatly improve nearly 400 acres of recreational space.
Is there something else you would like to see?